The present invention relates to housings for covering optical equipment and more particularly to housings with sealing mechanisms for covering and protecting optical equipment.
Housings for enclosing optical elements often consist of plastic or metal casings having access holes around their perimeters to allow cables or wires, e.g. fiber optic, power, and telephone cables, to pass through. These housings often have doors attached to a base or frame through hinges on one side. Either of the frame or the door may have tabs or flaps on a side opposite the hinges that snap over a boss or into an indentation located on the other of the frames or doors in order to secure or close the door against the frame. Often, these tabs and the corresponding interfaces break off over time due to mechanical cycling or may not be aligned and thus do not secure the door to the frame as desired.
Furthermore, dust, dirt, and moisture can interfere with the proper operation of or degrade electrical and mechanical components, such as screws, within these housings. Existing designs do not adequately insulate these components from the environment.
In addition, based on error or improper operation by a user, user movement of the door to secure the door to the frame sometimes may not result in the door being maintained in a closed position or a seal being formed between the door and the frame, such that the interior of the housing and optical elements installed within the interior may not be protected from the external environment.
Therefore, there exists a need for fasteners that may provide more reliable means for maintaining a door against a frame of a housing for optical elements and that provide a means for sealing the components within the housing from the environment.